Turk: No Plan for Vote on U.S. Troops

Published 7:00 pm, Saturday, March 1, 2003

Turkey's ruling party has no plans in the "foreseeable future" to seek another parliament vote for the deployment of U.S. troops on Turkish soil for a war with Iraq, a party leader said Sunday.

The announcement by Eyup Fatsa, deputy head of the Justice and Development party, came a day after the legislature dealt a serious blow to U.S. war planning by failing to approve a motion to deploy U.S. soldiers, weapons and equipment.

"The proposal has been delayed to an open-ended time. There is no proposal for the foreseeable future," he told reporters after a party meeting to decide whether to resubmit the motion.

Lawmakers on Saturday voted 264-250 in favor of stationing U.S. troops but that was three votes shy of a constitutionally mandated simple majority. There were 19 abstentions.

That technicality raised the question of a second vote _ a stunned Washington had said it was awaiting "clarification" from Turkey, a close U.S. ally and the sole NATO member neighboring Iraq, and parliament said it would take up the issue Tuesday.

The Justice party said the Tuesday discussion would not happen, though party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said top party members and the Cabinet, which usually meets Wednesdays, would "evaluate" the issue.

He played down the divisions in his government over deployment. "By our party not taking a group decision on this critical issue, we carried out democracy within the party," Erdogan said.

Washington for weeks had pressured Turkey to allow the deployment, aimed at giving the U.S. military a northern front against Iraq in the event of war.

But, by an overwhelming margin, Turks oppose a U.S.-led war on Iraq _ including many lawmakers of the Islamic-rooted Justice party who voted down the motion. The party holds 362 of the 550 seats in parliament.

Earlier Sunday, he said parliament's failure to approve the deployment should not jeopardize ties with Washington and warned Iraq not to try to take advantage of the vote.

"Relations between Turkey and the United States are strategic. We will continue these relations with mutual friendship and mutual understanding. These (relations) shouldn't be bound to a motion," Gul said earlier Sunday.

"If (Iraqi leaders) understand this wrong and take advantage of it … they make it hard for peace to exist. No one should misunderstand this decision by parliament," Gul added.

But the failed vote is likely to strain relations with the Bush administration. Ships carrying U.S. tanks have been waiting off Turkey's coast for deployment, and the U.S. military has hundreds of trucks of military equipment ready to unload at the southern Turkish port of Iskenderun.

"We had certainly hoped for a favorable decision," U.S. Ambassador Robert Pearson said after the vote. "We will wait for further information and advice from the government of Turkey about how we should proceed."

The White House withheld official comment, but officials said privately that the administration remains convinced it ultimately will get its way.

The motion would have empowered the Turkish government to authorize the basing of up to 62,000 U.S. troops, 255 warplanes and 65 helicopters. In exchange, Washington promised $15 billion in loans and grants to cushion the Turkish economy from the impact of war. That money may now be lost.

Turkey also risks losing Washington's support which was crucial in securing billions in loans from the International Monetary Fund that rescued the country during an economic crisis in 2001. The United States has also pushed Turkey's candidacy in the European Union and is the main supplier of arms.

If Ankara does not agree to host U.S. forces, it also loses a say in the future of neighboring Iraq if there is a war. That is a critical issue for Turkey, which fears a war could lead Kurds in northern Iraq to declare an independent state and in turn inspire Turkey's own Kurdish minority.

But the governing party's failure to approve the deployment was a reflection of the overwhelming opposition in Turkey to a war in neighboring Iraq. Tens of thousands of Turks held anti-war demonstrations while lawmakers discussed the motion. Many Turks fear retaliatory attacks from Baghdad.